In response to an online petition asking Sesame Street producers to let odd couple Bert and Ernie marry as a way to teach tolerance to young children, Sesame Workshop has issued a statement on the nature of Bert and Ernie’s relationship: “Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

Sesame Street begins its 42nd season next month. Putting the Bert and Ernie issue to bed, would you like to see a same-sex couple introduced on the show? I haven’t watched Sesame Street in close to 30 years, but if there are no official puppet couples, then you can’t fault producers for holding to that tradition. But what about introducing a same-sex human couple?